


Silence and Sound

by cosmofex



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canonical Child Abuse, Child Abandonment, Child Neglect, Deaf Character, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Trans Character, least of all the wee deaf bab, nobody knows how to handle this, they're as confused as you are!, they've never changed societal norms before, wee deaf bab changes societal norms left and right
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2020-01-16 02:43:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18512269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmofex/pseuds/cosmofex
Summary: The night of the Kyuubi's attack, the Kyuubi "appeared out of nowhere." What happens when a large object suddenly becomes present? The air is shoved aside in a massive pressure wave. Massive pressure wave + infant eardrums = deaf baby. Deaf baby + miscommunication, panic, and exhaustion = no one actually knows who has the baby. Misplaced baby + growing hatred = toddler abandonment. Toddler abandonment + continuing hatred + deafness = confused child who had to make up the rules as they went.The correlation between the actual rules and the invented rules is loose at best, but when the invented rules end up making more sense than the actual rules and the inventor is charismatic enough to get anyone to listen to him, what chaos ensues?





	1. A secret Naruto didn't know they had

Shikamaru was going in for his first day at the academy. His clan made him learn this stuff already, so why did he have to learn it again?

"Because I said so!" shouted his mother when he asked her. He wiggled a finger in his ear and went to ask his father.

"Because you need more than knowledge alone, and you need the qualifications," said Shikaku. "Social connections are vital both for mental health and for making life easier later, and either way having friends is a very nice feeling. As for the rest of it, if you don't go then you can't be a ninja and I'll make you tend the deer every day for the rest of your life." This was quite enough to convince the boy, who wanted nothing to do with the troublesome chore. Maybe if he could get away with skipping classes, he could go cloud-watching then make friends at lunch. Then he could pass the tests with ease as usual, and he'd be able to pass on that alone.

Confident in his plan, he grabbed a bento from his mother and went on to the academy. Once there, he bumped into a short boy with carrot-colored hair. Wait, no, it was sunshine-yellow, it just had enough dirt in it to look orange. The boy jumped like he'd been electrocuted instead of bumped, and ran to hide behind a tree. He peeked out, trembling, to see Shikamaru watch in bemusement.

"What are you doing?" asked Shikamaru. The boy was staring at him intently, and Shikamaru was about to ask if everything was alright when the boy spoke up.

"Please don't hit me, I didn't mean it!" the boy whispered. Shikamaru's eyebrows raised. _well, guess that answers that. everything is absolutely NOT right_ , he thought.

"I'm not going to hit you, why would I do that?"

The boy shrugged from behind his tree. "Everybody does."

"Well I won't. I'm not a jerk like them," said Shikamaru. Apparently this was the right thing to say. The boy's eyes shot wide, and he started trembling again. It was a different kind of tremble, like a puppy that's just too excited to stick with only wagging his tail and has to wag the rest of himself too. He darted from behind the tree and grabbed Shikamaru's hands. Before Shikamaru had a chance to react, the boy was shouting.

"Hi I'm Naruto what's your name! If you aren't going to hit me does that mean you're my friend? Please be my friend!" Shikamaru stood there, thunderstruck. This boy had never met someone that was nice, had he? His six year old mind turned this over in his head. No one nice, absolutely filthy, clothes were tattered now that he could see them. _He's homeless, isn't he,_ he thought, and before he could think about it any more he spoke.

"Sure. Wanna go to the academy with me?" With a crow of delight, Naruto accepted. A short walk later, there was an extra child sitting in the classroom. Attendance was called, and since Naruto's name wasn't called he never spoke up, and went largely unnoticed. The academy chuunin mistook the dirty hair for orange and couldn't spot whiskers underneath the thick layer of grime, and so Naruto was able to go unassaulted for more than two hours for the first time in his life.

* * *

 

Shikamaru could tell there was something wrong after an hour passed in class and Naruto hadn't untensed yet. The boy stared fixedly at the teacher, wariness writ plainly across every inch of his face. When class ended and the teacher stepped out, Naruto relaxed all at once, only to tense up again as the next one walked in. He never spoke up, never looked away, never really relaxed. _What could cause this kind of behavior?_  Shikamaru wondered as he settled on the swing for lunch.

"What's that?" asked Naruto loudly.

"Bento from my mother."

"What's a bendo?" Shikamaru looked over, startled. How did a kid get raised in Konoha and not know what a bento was?

"Bento. It's a way of packing up lunch for kids like us," he said. Noticing Naruto didn't have anything for himself, he continued. "Mother always gives me boiled eggs, but I hate them. You want some?" Timidly, Naruto accepted. Seeing that he wasn't going to be punished, he made short work of the rest. _Must not have had breakfast either_ , thought Shikamaru. "So tell me, why are you so tense around the teachers?"

Naruto gulped down the rest of his egg before replying. "Grown-ups are always mean to me. I've never even met one that didn't hurt me before today other than Jiji. The ones with animal masks are usually alright but they never talk to me and they hit me if i see one and look away. Sometimes they do even when I do look at them."

Shikamaru didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't say anything. They spent the rest of lunch chatting, or rather Naruto chattered away like he had never had someone who would listen to him, and Shikamaru listened and gathered information. Eventually the bell rang, and they went back inside.

* * *

 

One evening about a week later, Shikamaru parted ways with Naruto at the park and went home to think. Something was really, really screwy here, and the puzzle demanded his attention. On the way to his room, he stopped in the clan library to check over some psychology books Ino's dad left the last time he and Shikamaru's dad visited. One of them was a slim text on war orphans, street children, and other types of homeless people that often became shinobi out of necessity. In his room, Shikamaru pulled out a pen and some paper, and made a list.

  1. Naruto had ragged, ages-old clothes and only one set at that.
  2. Naruto was free to randomly spend the week at the academy without someone bursting in looking for him.
  3. Naruto was terrified of anyone older than him, or that touched him without him seeing them try to.
  4. Naruto latched onto the first person he knew wouldn't hurt him, and had already spent every minute he could either near or outright touching Shikamaru.
  5. Naruto could speak mostly normally, but mispronounced a lot of words when repeating things.
  6. Naruto was very easily distracted, at least when an adult wasn't around.



Part of the puzzle was easy- Naruto was an orphan and a street kid, and had been for a very, very long time. So long it had affected his development severely. Maybe even since just after he learned to walk and talk. The rest was harder, and he worried at it like a dog with a bone for days, until he saw something interesting in the park one morning.

Shikamaru was walking to the park. It was a sunshiney Monday morning, terrible for cloud watching, and it was time to pick up Naruto for the Academy. Just as he was about to call out for Naruto, he heard a voice. Glancing around, he spotted Naruto staring at an ANBU.

"Uzumaki Naruto, the Hokage requires your presence."

Naruto stared.

"Uzumaki, did you hear me? The Hokage requires your presence. You are to go to the Hokage Tower immediately."

Silence. Shikamaru watched with confusion. Wasn't Naruto going to answer?

"Uzumaki, respond!" The ANBU's voice rose in irritation. Finally Naruto answered.

"What?" asked Naruto, as though the ANBU had only just now spoken. The ANBU visibly restrained himself, then just as visibly failed to do so. With a resounding thud, Naruto's head bounced off the tree behind him and he fell face-first in the dirt and grass.

"Go to the Hokage, you idiot!" shouted the ANBU, before stalking off, grumbling that "The menace does it to rile us up on purpose, I swear."

Naruto slowly twitched, trying to pull himself up. Shikamaru ran forward, throwing curses his father used when he thought Shikamaru couldn't hear them. He reached out to help Naruto up, only for Naruto to jerk away in panic. Once Naruto realized it was only Shikamaru, he allowed the contact. Shikamaru spent the rest of the day in a daze. All the puzzle pieces finally clicked together, and the answer was obvious:

Naruto Uzumaki was deaf.


	2. The Only One Inner Thinks Is Cool

Haruno Sakura had a secret. Well, if you counted Inner, two. The secret was one she'd never, but never, share with anyone. It took her time to realize she even had the secret, took weeks of being around the filthy boy who sat near her in class. Sakura saw him once, a few weeks before the academy started. She'd been walking to Ino's house, when a comotion in the alley caught her attention. When she looked, she saw the boy, more bone than meat, had caught a bird. With the beatific smile of someone getting their favorite food after a long period of starvation, he bit into the thrashing animal. Rather than be grossed out, she watched in awe as the most hardcore thing she'd ever seen happened. The boy ate the whole bird, cracked the bones for their slivers of marrow, then crunched the shards down too. It was Inner who pointed out his teeth, and how his lips stretched too far back on his cheeks. How the blood showed that the whisker marks had actual tiny whiskers in them.  
Her secret was that the absolute coolest kid in class was the malnourished boy who sat two rows back.  
  
Sakura knew that it was popular to like Sasuke, to hate other boys. She just couldnt do it anymore. Sure Sasuke was cute, but Sakura was darn sure he'd never bitten into a live bird he'd just caught bare-handed. That sort of thing adjusted where a girl set the bar, y'know? There were other things about Naruto. He never relaxed, always bouncing with energy or rigid with a wariness Sakura couldn't place. Lately he'd been hanging around Shikamaru, and the tension in Naruto's tiny frame would ease just a bit every time they were close. Sakura also noticed that Naruto's parents never came to pick him up after academy ended. Halfway through the first year at the academy, this led her to make the worst mistake of her life thus far.  
  
"Mom, where are Naruto's parents?" The innocent question garnered a much stronger reaction than she expected. Her parents faces froze, then slowly shifted into the ugliest expression Sakura had ever seen them make.

"Where did you hear that name?" asked Daddy. Sakura blinked.

"He's in my class at the academy," she answered. Daddy's expression hardened, but Mom's fell into worry. Mom grabbed Daddy's arm and leaned over, whispering frantically into his ear. Sakura missed most of it, but caught enough to resolve never to mention Naruto around them again. The next day, Naruto's name was called in class for the first time. The hatred in the chuunin instructors expression and voice terrified Sakura. The resigned fear in Naruto's dismal reply was far worse. Within five minutes the instructor had sent Naruto out of the room for "breathing".

"Sir, I need to use the bathroom!" Gaining permission, Sakura bolted out the door.  
Naruto was across the hall from the classroom, head hung low. Trying not to startle him, Sakura walked up slowly. He flinched suddenly, making Sakura jump in turn. Gathering herself back together, Sakura opened her mouth to speak.

"Naruto, I think this was my fault," she started. "I asked my parents who yours were, and they got really mad." Why was he watching her mouth? "Why do the grown-ups not like you?"

"I don't know, but nobody other than Jiji and Shikamaru-chan like me anyways," said Naruto.

"-Chan?!" yelped Sakura. "Shouldn't it be "-kun?" Naruto looked baffled.

"No, I'm pretty sure its -chan, dattebayo!"

Sakura blinked. Had she somehow missed that Shikamaru was a girl? No, couldn't be. Maybe... "Naruto, are you making fun of Shikamaru? I know he's not good at taijutsu and he's not super strong, but thats no reason to call him a girl."

Naruto scoffed. "Are you kidding me? all the strongest ninja are girls! And i'm not being mean either. Shikamaru-chan has long hair, so she's a girl. Easy as instant ramen!"

 _Oh kami,_ thought Sakura. "Thats not how you tell boys from girls!"

"Then how?" asked Naruto.

"Girls have bigger chests of course! And they've got different stuff for their privates."

"No, thats stupid!" Naruto shouted. "You're a girl and you've got the same size chest as me, and the stuff about privates is stupid too! What does that even have to do with anything other than private stuff?"

Sakura took a deep breath. "Its how you tell who's a boy and who's a girl." This was so embarassing, but Sakura just knew that if she didn't sort this out now, in the empty hallway, it'd be so much worse.

Naruto shook his head. "Being a boy or being a girl isn't a private thing, everybody knows! So since its not a private thing, it can't be based on private parts since if it was they wouldn't be private either!"

Sakura blinked. "So, is Sasuke a boy, then?" she asked.

"Yep!"

"And Ino's a girl like me."

"Of course."

 _Time for the trump card,_ thought Sakura. "So Hinata is a boy."

"That's right, dattebayo!" said Naruto with a grin.

Sakura grinned back. "But Hinata told me she's a girl." _So there, shannaro!_ shouted Inner. The smile slid off of Naruto's face. Sakura was shocked when instead of surprise on his face, it was a quiet seriousness. He thought for a moment, and Sakura waited for his reaction. Finally it came.

"Sakura-chan, who cuts Hinata-chan's hair?"

"Um, her family i guess. Why?" Naruto's face hardened, but he did not answer. Instead, he turned sharply and left, anger in every step.

Sakura and Inner shared a moment of angry confusion, then decided Naruto was obviously too weird to be cool in any way. Even if he did eat birds raw and squirming. _Aw, who am I kidding, he could think gender is based on how people eat dango and he'd still be the coolest person I know._ Suddenly Inner spoke up. _Y'know, kid's got a point about the whole privates thing. We've not seen anyone's other than ours, and Mom and Dad don't like Naruto and he's cooler than Sasuke like woah, so maybe they're wrong about this too..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my brain ran dry on naruto for a bit, but you peeps are so rad! every time i'd start to think "nah im not feelin it" someone would kudo, or comment, so i couldn't leave you guys hanging forever!
> 
> sadly, writing for me is one of many hobbies, and not one of my primary ones, so this is about how often i'll update


	3. Call The Fuckin' Priest, Because I Just Died And Went To Cuteness Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merry crisis!
> 
> Hinata is a sweet, kindhearted, sincere little girl. incidentally, overuse of profanity has been linked with increased honesty. Hinata's just not rude/brave enough to knowingly say it out loud yet.

It happens again. Hyuuga Hinata was on her way home from the Academy when a group of boys start picking on her. Blind-eyes. Freak. Shorty. They start pushing her around, and its just like when Hiashi-sama takes her to "train". She feels just as useless, just as helpless, just as...

hated.

Then something new happens. A shrill, hair-raising yowl tears through the mockery, and a bundle of rags and hair and teeth drops out of a tree on the ringleader's head. The child's mouth gapes wider than it should be able to, and with an audible _**crunch**_  bites down on his arm, _hard_. The bullies scream and run, other than the one that still has a whole-ass boy hanging off his arm. That one just collapses after a few seconds, hiccuping and crying in fear and pain. Every time he tries to get away, the feral boy growls and jerks his head.

Then there's ANBU. Hinata is frozen in shock and not a little bit of terror, but ANBU mean safety, and so she relaxes a little.

"Uzumaki, report."

The boy just watches him.

"Uzumaki! Report, NOW!"

He lets go of the bully, and starts talking.

"He was bein' a bully, dattebayo! He had a whole gang and were pushing her around!" He turns his head and squirts out a massive gob of blood, before continuing. "Him and two of the others were the ones that told the Kumo bastard she was easy pickins, 'ttebayo. Someone's gotta get'm for it, kami knows their parents won't, bein council assholes dattebayo."

Hinata just about lost her damn mind right then and there. This little prick was the one that told the kidnapper to go after her?! Her father STILL hated her for that! He- that- shit-!

With a howl of fury, Hinata used her first ever flawless, textbook jyuuken.

\--------------------------------------------------

It's been about a week since Uzumaki saved her. Hinata has seen him every now and then, usually doing something weird, and always either alone or with Shikamaru. She'd asked Sakura if she knew anything about the boy, and was unsurprised but still enthralled by the story of Naruto (which was apparently his name) eating a fucking bird.

"Ne, Hinata? Naruto said something to me that made me think," says Sakura.

"Hmm?"

"How do you tell boys from girls?"

_What the actual fuck_.

"Hinata!" Oops, she said that out loud, didn't she. Shit.

"A-a-ano, boys and girls have, d-d-d-d-differe-ent parts?" answers Hinata.

"Okay, but," says Sakura, "those are privates, right? So how do you tell who's which without them being not private?"

"Wha- uhhhhh," _oh fuck_ , "mmmmmmmm."

"Naruto thinks it's hair length, like, boys have short hair and girls have long," Sakura elaborates.

"What about Shikamaru? And Iruka?" asks Hinata.

"Naruto calls Shikamaru -chan, and i guess being a teacher is more important than gender? Naruto doesn't call Iruka anything but -sensei, anyways. And," Sakura blushed, "I haven't seen either of them naked so I can't technically say Naruto is wrong."

_Huh. Wait just a fuckin' second_ , "What about me?"

Sakura gets the most confused look on her face now. "That's the thing, he started out using -kun," _I'm going to fucking murder the brat_ , "but when i told him you were -chan, he got really angry and asked who cut your hair."

"I wonder why-" Hinata is interrupted by a loud bang, an explosion? echoing through the classroom. Everyone rushes to the window, where she can see smoke rising over the tree line.

"Ano," says Sakura, "isn't that from..."

The Hyuuga compound.

Hinata is gone before Sakura can finish her sentence.

\-------------------------------------------------

The Hyuuga compound is lined by walls nearly as impressive as the curtain wall surrounding Konoha, decorated with intricate paintings that, if looked at with a Byakugan eye, can be seen to be seals and traps so tightly spaced that they look like solid lines of paint. Their protections were so great that, even with the seal key to the compound, Hinata's Kumo abductor had chosen to kidnap her en route to the playground rather than risk the compound's defenses. The wall had never been breached by anyone.

Hinata watches as Uzumaki _FUCKING_ Naruto runs rampant through the compound, completely unphased by the fact that his presence inside the compound should be an impossibility. He doesn't hurt anyone, but regardless of the Byakugan's all-seeing eye, not a single person can lay a finger on him. The weirdest thing is, he's trying to leave. What in the god damn hell is going on?

Oh.

Hah.

"Hahahaheheheeeee!" Hinata bursts into laughter, and she can't fucking breathe, because Hyuuga Hiashi is tearing after Naruto, and he's bald and dyed an eye-searing shade of yellow, and Hinata can see from here that the paint has so much glitter in it that Hiashi can't even move without blinding a dozen Hyuuga. She ends up rolling around on the forest floor laughing her guts out, as undignified as can be.

"You have a pretty laugh, Hinata-chan."

"EEP!" Somehow Naurto sneaked up on her. She blushes so hard she can feel the heat rise off her face.

Naruto pokes one crimson cheek. "I di'n't know people could turn colors 'cept when they were mad."

_Oh god that's adorable. Call the fucking priest, because I just died and went to Cuteness Heaven._

Naruto is still looking at her, and it takes Hinata a moment to place that look. He's looking at her like a confused fox kit, to the point where she can practically see the twitchy ears. Wait-

_ohmyfuckinggod, his ears ARE twitching!_ How the hell is he doing that. What the fuck. Is this kid actually part fox? Because the ears, the teeth, the claws, his mannerisms, hell, his eyes are even slit like a foxes!

"A-a-a-ano, are you a fox-person or something?"

Why did he watch her lips so hard? 

_Oh shit is he going to kiss me?_

"Dunno, I ain't got any family so maybe they were?" he answers with a shrug. "Anyway, I gotta go, Hyuuga-teme is gonna catch up soon if I don't. Bye, Hinata-chan!"

The feral boy skitters up a tree and is gone, jumping tree to tree, though he moves less like a ninja and more like an oversized squirrel. A few moments pass, and Hiashi crashes through the underbrush. The new paint job is somehow even worse up close, and Hinata can't open her eyes past the barest squint.

"Where is the Uzumaki, daughter?"

_I'm not telling you shit_. "I have not seen him, Tou-sama," says Hinata. "Why are you covered in paint?"

Hiashi's face hardens, but something in his voice tells Hinata he's also blushing from embarrassment under the paint. "Uzumaki has concocted a chakra-dampening paint. He issued an ultimatum, refused by the clan counsel, before dousing most of the main branch."

_So all those uppity bitches are like this too?_ "What was the ultimatum?"

"Essentially 'stop being bastards to your own families or get fucked,' if I remember his wording correctly. Apparently his original objection was your haircut, oddly enough, but it seems he saw the Caged Bird Seal on his way in  and added that to his list of grievances," says Hiashi. Then he-

_Since when does Hiashi know how to smile?_  

"The counsel of course denied him, upon which he triggered the trap he'd somehow managed to construct in the ceiling of the counsel chamber, though when he had the chance we may never know."

"Tou-sama? Why are you smiling at that?"

The smile drops from his face. It is replaced by... mourning? Loss? Something sad, anyways. "Memories, daughter." Hiashi is staring into the middle distance, into his past. "Hinata, if you can, befriend that boy. If he is anything like his mother, and he most certainly is, he will be the best friend you could possibly hope for."

"You knew his mother?"

"...Yes."

A long pause.

"Was she or his father a fox? Because Naruto looks kinda like a fox boy."

Hiashi stiffens. "Come with me. Be completely silent."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Enter."

"Thank you. Wait in the lobby, daughter, and speak to no one."

"What is your business here, Hyuuga-san?"

"Hokage-sama, Hyuuga Hinata is on the cusp of figuring out an S-rank secret."


	4. Twist Twist Twist Pull

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which every bit of knowledge is useful, but some of it isn't useful yet...

[From the notes of Uzumaki Naruto, transcribed and edited for legibility]

[Begin text of volume 1]

my name is naruto. jiji told me so, and he is always right.

he gave me this diary to practice writing in, but i don't know how to write good. he said it would keep me too busy to prank the hyuuga again. he is wrong, but i won't tell him that.

[Pages 2-99 are devoted to hiragana and katakana practice]

i need more diaries.

[End text of volume 1]

  


[Begin text of volume 2]

i found this one in the trash can on 4th avenue where the baker puts paper stuff. jiji says its for recycling but if he's gonna recycle it why did he throw it away?

[pages 2-37 are devoted to various practice sentences and repetitions of street signs]

bullfrog mask taught me how to make string today. twist one twist both, twist one twist both. i made two feet of string out of just grass, and its strong enough to hold my pants up!

he says if i'm good, he'll take me to the cotton field on one of the training grounds and teach me to make thread i can use to fix my clothes. i can't wait!

[Remainder of volume is destroyed by a large blood stain]

[End text of volume 2]

  


[From the desk of the Sandaime Hokage]

Incident report SSV-12982

September 29, 56 AF

ANBU Operative Crane has been killed in the line of duty by ANBU Operative Bullfrog. Operative Crane approached Trainee Uzumaki Naruto with an offer for special training. Trainee Uzumaki refused, citing Operative Bullfrog as having already offered that day. Upon hearing this, Operative Crane became agitated. The Operative made a further attempt to convince Trainee Uzumaki to accompany him, and upon being rebuffed applied a chloroform rag to the Trainee's face and abducted him. Operative Bullfrog pursued, intercepting Operative Crane at Warehouse 34C. A fight broke out, during which Trainee Uzumaki was struck by stray kunai, waking him. Seeking to end the fight before Trainee Uzumaki could be further injured, Operative Bullfrog opened his Inner Gates to level 4 and terminated Operative Crane with extreme prejudice.

Casualties: 1 dead.  
Injuries: 1 moderate, 1 minor.  
Property Damage: 14,395.61 ryo

Notes: Operative Bullfrog strongly overreacted to the presented threat. Psych evaluation is recommended before returning to duty. If proper distance from subjects of his mission cannot be maintained, it is recommended that he be reassigned to a division where such attachment is a boon rather than a hindrance, such as the Jounin Sensei program.

  


[From the notes of Uzumaki Naruto, transcribed and edited for legibility]

[Begin text of volume 3]

bullfrog mask got me a new diary because my old one got messed up when crane mask hurt me. he also took me to the cotton field like he promised! cotton is a plant that grows balls of fluff, and you can take a big bunch of fluff and twist twist twist pull, twist twist twist pull! and you have a thread!

it's super easy and now i can fix the holes in my clothes if i can get a needle. jiji has senbon and those are needles, so maybe i can ask him for one.

[Pages 2-12 are devoted to practicing the kanji for various essential shinobi equipment]

bullfrog mask says he can't watch over me any more, but if i become a ninja he can teach me. he showed me what he looks like with the mask off so i can recognize him. i told him i could smell the difference and he didn't have to show me, but he said it's important to him.

i think he should have had the caterpillar mask.

he said he wanted to get the turtle mask, but dog mask gave him the bullfrog one instead. dog mask showed up and said that bullfrog mask got the bullfrog because of how loud he was. i guess that makes sense because every one else is so quiet i can't hear them, and bullfrog mask is just right. :)

i am going to miss him, but jiji says bullfrog mask liked me too much to do a good job protecting me. i asked why that was a problem and he said bullfrog hurt himself by trying too hard when he could have tried less and got it done without getting hurt, and if he did it with someone stronger than crane mask he might die even if the bad guy only wanted to hurt me and not kill me.

i think mummy-san swapped jiji's pipe stuff, because thats what he would have said.

[Pages 14-89 are devoted to further kanji practice]

[Remaining pages have been carefully torn out. One of the removed pages has been folded into a paper crane and taped to the inside of the back cover. Unfolding reveals it to contain notes passed between Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, and Nara Shikamaru regarding an especially dull lesson which all four students agree was largely useless and served no purpose besides punishing any students who paid attention within the last week]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> usually shika-chan, saku-chan, and hina-chan make naruto-(kun? chan? we just don't know) practice writing, but those last few lessons were 1) boring for everyone with an IQ better than "pretty bad" and 2) were blatant propaganda according to shika, so they just threw origami at each other across the classroom for a few hours.
> 
> also gai was there and gave naruto a skill that will prove to be very, very useful.


End file.
